I love this board. I am going to be a first-time home owner soon. Here is the deal:

Scenario:

Closing on a house on the 24th of July. Not going to move in until the end of August. 1920’s colonial house (craftsman style). Condition of Floors: Oak throughout first floor (not sure if white or red yet). Living room, kitchen (original portion), and dining room all have the oak at 2.25” thick perpendicual to the headers at I believe 16” centers. This was laid continuously between the living room, kithcen, and dining room. Floors seem to have never been finished, at least for 30+ years. Single pipe steam radioators in every room. Some wood around the pipes are rotted and need replacing. Overall, the oak floors seem to be fine where the rugs covered them, and worn where they were not covered but were in high traffic areas. Thirty years ago or so, expansion to kitchen was done. Expanded part was plywood (not sure how thick) to match elevation of hardwood in original portion of kitchen. Previous owner (now deceased and unable to answer my questions on the history aspect) tiled with linoleum over the new and old portions of the kitchen with a black tar-like glue. Prior to placing the house on market, the executors ripped up the tiles since 1/3 or so where missing and it looked better that way to help sell. Therefore, 100% of the old part of the kitchen’s oak that matched the living room and dining room is now black while the 100% of the new part of the kitchen’s plywood is now black. About 60% of the total kitchen is made up from the original portion.

Other important elements:
1. Wife (and I) want wood in kitchen, despite need for extra care. We are without pets or kids.
2. Are on a budget (down payment is going to kill us).
3. Currently have cheap rent, and therefore will not mind carrying two places for the month if we can make many improvements prior to moving such as painting, fixing the floors, etc.)
4. I am technically adept (mecahnical engineer), have patience, read manuals, and have looked all througout this baord.
5. We live in NJ, were humidity is high, and the house is w/o central air and hasn’t been inhabited for the last 8 months.

My proposed Plan:

1. Close on house and same day install window A/C units, and get temp and humidity down. Do this ASAP. Also turn on dehumidifer.
2. Remove steam radiators to get access to entire floor.
3. Sand with belt sander a few boards in the old part of the kitchen hardwood floor to see:
a. If they are salvageable and can be refinnished and determine depth of penetration for glue/tar
b. What thickness they are now (how much life and refinishes are left in them)
c. If they are red or white oak.
d. Also, check for levelness of the floor
4. If old part of kitchen is salvageable, rip up plywood portion of expanded kitchen, and purchase/install unfinished oak to attempt to match the old. Both old and new oak will be sanded /blended together and stained or finished together. Are there going to be issues at the old/new oak interface? I hear that wood age impacts finish appearance. If not salvagageable, either:
a. Rip out old and new part of kitchen and install, or:
i. prefinished oak, or
ii. or unfinished oak, and if unfinished stain with same finish as the living room and dining room,
b. Lay new floor in entire kitchen over all that was glued or tarred for the linoleium tiles (over the original oak and newer plywood floor). Would not be replacing the cabinets (out of price our budget right now). Options here included:
i. engineered wood (2.25” or other sized)
ii. ¾ prefinished (2.25” or other sized)
iii. ¾ unfinshed (2.25” or other sized)

5. Upon arrival of oak, let acclimate for 7 – 10 days with rest of house. I guess we will paint upstairs rooms at this time or start sanding the living room and dining room oak while the new wood finishes aclimating in terms of MC to that of the subflooring (within 2% is goal I believe I read?).

As you can see, the majority of my plan is dictated by finding out what type of oak it is which can not happen until we close on the house, and also determining how penetrative the glue on the oak in the kitchen was to see if it can be partially salvaged. I am not a fan of elevating the kitchen since it is adjoined by three doorways to other rooms, and since we will down the line redo the kichen, we would have to rip up the floor again (I think).

So, I was wondering if this sounds like a decent plan? If not, how can I improve or change it? We are somewhatconcerned about sawdust, and would like to have things done before we officially move in. I will eventually have a flooring person come in too to look at things, but I want to get a feel as to whether or not I am on the right track, to be able to identify the pro from the novice if I decide to hire out the installation and sanding, or optionally to realize if my plan is possible without sending me to the poorhouse. Not looking for perfection that an unlimited budget could achieve, but will take time, care, preparation, and planning to get it done well within my means.

Also, not sure to use closet pieces or new boards to fix around radioator pipes.

Your action plan sounds pretty good. It does seem that the tar(?) over the existing wood will determine whether that floor can be salvaged or not. You'd be surprized at what a good sanding can accomplish. BTW,

WHY? Most pros can tell by looking at the wood what it is. I know I can. Take a couple of pics and post them here and see if we can guess it right.

Sorry, you either got a "colonial" or you got a "craftsman" style. They are quite different.
IMO, hire a REPUTABLE, EXPERIENCED and LICENSED HARDWOOD FLOORING CONTRACTOR from the NWFA. Get referals and check on them. Expect to pay a fair wage for your area. With flooring, you get what you pay for. If you hire the cheapest guy who just arrived in our country and hardly speaks english, I'll have no pity on you. Get 5 estimates to be able to compare prices for your area. You should be able to get a fairly decent match to patch the flooring and add on to it. This requires hiring a true pro who knows the various brands and mills and what those mills typically produce. Hopefully, you will hire a good contractor who will guide you into the right decisions and restore your floors to their former glory.

Thanks Gary for your help. I have a guy coming in next week to quote on the job. Only am looking for NWFA members with experience. Will not hire anyone w/o experience. This sight will help me ask him the right questions.